diving for fish? what checmical is used to slow them down...?

[meadbhb]

Hiya,
I want to say I saw someone use a sucker gun to capture small fish with once. Works kinda like a bass fish, when feeding. When they open their mouth they suck in their prey, but it was shapped more like a gun.
Am I making any sense? Wish I could remember what show I saw that on.
Meadbhb

 

[sammiefish]

The following info is from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FL Ornamental fish regs
The following are summarized recreational harvesting regulations for popular tropical-ornamental aquarium species.
License Requirement: A Florida recreational saltwater fishing license (resident or non-resident, whichever is applicable).
Closed Seasons: None.
Closed Areas: The harvest of these species is generally allowed wherever recreational fishing is allowed. However, the harvest of marine life species or the use of the gear allowed to take these species may be limited or prohibited in state or federal parks, national wildlife refuges, and portions of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Interested persons should contact those park areas for further information.
Prohibited Species: All harvest is prohibited of the following species:
Live rock, Bahama starfish (Oreaster reticulatis), longspine urchin (Diadema antillarum), Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum), common sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina), any hard or stony coral (Order Scleractinia), or any fire coral (Genus Millepora).
Allowable Harvesting Gear:
* Hand Collection.
*
"Hand held net," means a landing or dip net, except that a portion of the bag may be constructed of clear plastic material, rather than mesh.
*
"Barrier net," also known as a "fence net," means a seine used beneath the surface of the water by a diver to enclose and concentrate tropical fish and which may be made of either nylon or monofilament.
*
"Drop net," means a small, usually circular, net with weights attached along the outer edge and a single float in the center, used by a diver to enclose and concentrate tropical fish.
*
"Slurp gun" means a self-contained, handheld device that captures tropical fish by rapidly drawing seawater containing such fish into a closed chamber.

 

[meadbhb]

Hiya,
Slurp Gun! That's what I remember seeing them use!
Meadbhb

 

[ophiura]

All I ask is that you:
- follow the law
- do not ever return to the ocean what you take...it is your ethical responsibility to capture only what you can keep or can give to a larger tank in the future. Know the fish you are looking for before hand and only catch those even if you see something really pretty. Fish kept in captivity - especially in systems with pacific fish - can pick up various parasites and diseases not native to their area. Rereleasing them at some point may introduce them into the wild. If you can not get a new home, you should destroy the fish. Just something to think about.
- the exception to the above rule applies to any Pacific fish you see! If you see a lionfish, for example, get it out of the Keys!! Irresponsible hobbyists have introduced some pacific fish into the Atlantic. I am all for getting those guys out by any means necessary!
Kudos, to you, because it does seem that you thought about looking up whether you could even do it legally or not before even looking further into it! Many people don't do this.

 

[stuckinfla]

Ophiura - Very good point. I saw on the news not to long ago about a species of bat fish that they are finding in the Keys that were destroying something......sh*t...old age really sucks
Cant remember what it was now.
Where am I? lol

 

[avbryce1]

first of all I'm not trying to burst your bubble (no pun intended)
but ALL of the reefs anywhere close to the keys are protected. so going down there and just plucking a fish off the reef is out of the question, and the chances of you finding a fish that you would want in your tank swimming around in unprotected water (open ocean) are about as good as winning the florida lotto.
but wait all is not lost....
there is a good chance your divemaster will know of a wreck or a man made reef that is unprotected and there you might have some luck.
another option is snorkeling around on the gulf side I have seen lots of really cool damsels and even some small reef fish in the flats (hint: look around lobster traps)
good luck and have fun in the keys !

 

[cskyhawk]

Thanks for all the help I will let you all know what happends...
hopefully I wont screw up... lol the regs are pritty tight and I admit some of the fish on the list I have no ide what thay are... lol but I think you could get a PHD if you could figure out even half the the differnet names...
As for the parks I am planning on staying out of them... My dive partner has been held up in the flat lands of KS so it is gooing to be anouther week before wee go but I live on the west side and will dive some there the next few weeks...
Again thanks for the help... by the way the Slurp Gun! sounds cool... I don't know if I will or would want to use it but I am going to look into it... Sounds interesting...

 

[jacknjill]

try and take some pics